2026 Subaru Outback.
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It’s time again for a brand new Subaru Outback. And it is also time to be reminded how horrible Subaru is a designing cars.
While the new 2026 still looks a bit like a wagon, it could very well be the worst-looking wagon of all time. Just when you thought they had reached peak “Cladding climax”, they prove you wrong. As it seems they doubled down on the crappy looking plastic trim for 2026. It now looks like a disease that cannot be stopped, like trust. It’s everywhere, taking over the whole design.
The new super fake and cheap-looking plastic grille is particularly ghastly and obnoxious. Again, worse than ever before. The 2026 Subaru Outback front end could very well be the ugliest car offered today.
Besides this, the new Outback will still come in Premium, Limited, Touring, Limited XT, Touring XT, and Wilderness trims. Which is just too many if you ask me. Calling the super basic model “Premium” is just plain odd anyway.
Subaru describes the new interior design as “calmer, clean line”. OK…
I’m not sure it is such an improvement over the current interior, which was always pretty nice. The new one is a bit more generic, and dare I say, a bit more “Toyota-like”.
It’s basically the same car as before, with a new design on top. Engines are the same, with a base 2.4-liter with 180HP, or a turbo version with 260HP. No hybrid here.
To Subaru, it doesn’t matter what we think of the Outback. Or how ugly it has become. Numbers are king, and they sold almost 170,000 of them last year. Subaru buyers don’t seem to be put off by these horrible designs.
However, it is interesting to notice that the current generation has not been as popular as the previous one. We’ll see if the switch to “100% ugly” will make the car even more popular or not…
This is hideous. We always hoped the Subaru concept cars would finally get made but they’ve double downed on ugly. There isn’t a single piece on the exterior that’s redeemable. In comparison, it does make the Forester look better I guess. The old interior was fine and just needed faster processors. The new one is generic and the bezel around the screen is huge. Wow. I can’t believe what a mess it is.
Also the shape of the dash and vents give me Rav4 vibes.
good Lord. Doesn’t anyone at Subaru understand the word ‘editing’ ? This is just vulgar. Too much tacked on detail, otherwise I think this body look could have worked. But the blocked off grill looks bad. the extra ‘tough detail’ around the windows. Who buys sh!t like this anyways?
This is a highly offensive looking vehicle. Truly hideous. What were they thinking??
2026 Family Truckster….. ghastly. Holiday road…..a bad holiday
The Family Truckster! Yes! Best description I’ve seen all day.
Every time I look at the new Outback, my mind’s first perception is a 1979 or 1980 Ford Fairmont or Mercury Zephyr station wagon. eeeeeekkkkk!! Now mashed with the cladding of a Pontiac Aztec. This is what we get when designs are managed to focus group results.
I am pretty sure that this is the top end trim and hopefully the lower level trims have been edited so they don’t scare all of the kids in the neighborhood.
Hi all,
so ugly I would not even buy it if they reduced the price by a lot. I have a 2023 Outback and will keep it for five more years I guess. Hoping for the next design not to be made by someone Volvo fired in the 1980’s.
Overwrought and tacky.